Going the second mile

“You have heard that it was said, Eye for an eye and tooth for tooth. Bit I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”

Matthew 5:38-41


I’ve started reading a new book by Mel Blackaby entitled “Going the second mile”. It is based off of this verse obviously. It started to make me think about how I fit this verse into my every day life. I tend to be like a river and go with the flow to the least point of resistance on many things in my life that don’t really matter. Such as, when Sarah and I are trying to decide what to eat the best response is “Wherever you want to go dear”. This is the easiest way to get food to my mouth the quickest! Or if I am trying to decide which brand of toilet paper I tend to choose the one with the most in it so that I don’t have to keep making that “we are out of t.p. trip” to the store when you are walking about with only the toilet paper. People always look at you funny when that is all you are carrying. They might be trying to see if you are walking funny or fastly (or at least that is what I tend to do when I see this sort of thing happening). Honestly, no one really ever goes to the store just for tp unless they are completely out, right? So back to the point here…I like things to go smoothly. I like for things to come easy and for life to be laid back. I like things that are worry-free because there is enough in my life that isn’t worry free. So then I read this passage and it says that if someone wants you to go one mile, you should go two. After having started working out about 6 months ago and having started running on the treadmill about 3 months ago, I thought to myself, “One mile was pushing it! Two? Well, I wouldn’t have to worry about taking a shower after working out because they don’t take showers in heaven.”

But seriously. The question is: what in your life is pushing you to go the second mile? Is there anything? What about in your walk with Christ? Is there something that you feel burning inside you that you know that when you take the easy road or go with the flow you should have gone the opposite direction?

We are so consumed with having everything come to us easy in our culture. We don’t want to have to push ourselves or challenge ourselves. We try to keep everything in check and don’t let ourselves open up too much. Still, Jesus is challenging us to go that extra mile. To do that thing that we don’t really know how we can do it or when we will find the time. He wants us to make the commitment and give our time, our energy and our heart to reaching out to those around us.

What will your second mile look like?